Best Places In The World To Retire

The Weather

One of the worst reasons to retire overseas is to do it because you want to be in a place with good weather. There are times when people decide to visit a certain place at a specific time of the year because somebody told them that they will experience the best weather. The same is not always true if you live in the same place for a whole year since the weather will change during the year. However nice the weather is at a certain time of the year, remember it can...

The Weather

One of the worst reasons to retire overseas is to do it because you want to be in a place with good weather. There are times when people decide to visit a certain place at a specific time of the year because somebody told them that they will experience the best weather. The same is not always true if you live in the same place for a whole year since the weather will change during the year. However nice the weather is at a certain time of the year, remember it can also can be the complete opposite during another season of year. Weather is a big factor when people make a decision to move to a different country but I think it also can be a letdown. The culture and the community are more practical factors with bigger benefits.
 
The Beach

A lot of people want to retire on the beach or live on the beach and that is great. The beach is beautiful and it has a lot of things that are attractive but it is particularly suited for visiting rather than living. The air on the beach is salty, which makes properties wear down. The sun is normally very hot on the beach and it gets uncomfortable. So if you live on the beach, you might find yourself constantly looking for shade.
 
There is not a lot of agriculture that can be supported at the beach. Vendors come to the beach on trucks in order to sell to the people there. That adds to the hustle and bustle brought about by visitors that come to the beach all the time. It is not ideal to be at the beach the whole year because it starts to wear on you after a while. I’ve known a lot of people who end up being more stressed out than any other time in their lives because they just had an impression that moving overseas and living on the beach was going to be perfect. Nothing is perfect, not even the beach. 

Yes, there are a great many English speaking doctors in Panama.  In fact, for any type of specialty you will be able to find a bi-lingual specialist.  It is worth noting that in Panama, the doctors are not employees of the hospital, they are independent contractors.  So here you do not call up the hospital for an appointment, you go straight to the doctor.  There are consultorios (medical offices) attached or very close to most hospitals.
 

Yes, there are a great many English speaking doctors in Panama.  In fact, for any type of specialty you will be able to find a bi-lingual specialist.  It is worth noting that in Panama, the doctors are not employees of the hospital, they are independent contractors.  So here you do not call up the hospital for an appointment, you go straight to the doctor.  There are consultorios (medical offices) attached or very close to most hospitals.
 

The retirees love Ambergris Caye. We have a lot of retirees here. So many of my friends are so much older than me that my mom comes here to visit and she asks me, “Do you know any people your own age?” Well, there are lots of people my own age here but there are many retirees, too. We also have snowbirds or people who are sun seekers. They start to arrive in the beginning of November or the end October. I would take my van towards the beach and I would see them there taking a...

The retirees love Ambergris Caye. We have a lot of retirees here. So many of my friends are so much older than me that my mom comes here to visit and she asks me, “Do you know any people your own age?” Well, there are lots of people my own age here but there are many retirees, too. We also have snowbirds or people who are sun seekers. They start to arrive in the beginning of November or the end October. I would take my van towards the beach and I would see them there taking a morning walk about to see their friends for some coffee. Some of them come to Ambergris Caye for a month or two each year and some of them come for six months. Usually what happens is that they come for a month or two and they extend for six months and then you start seeing them year round.

 
There are lots of things to get involved with here in Ambergris Caye. There are lots of charitable organizations like the Human Society, which is always looking for volunteers. If you are a doctor or a nurse, there are many opportunities for volunteer work here. For instance, we have the Lion’s Club and they have a posting for dentists at the moment, so if you are retired dentist here on Ambergris Caye and you want to help out with this program, you can approach them. They are offering free dental care for the next two weeks. If you perhaps are a retired nurse or a physician and want to go and volunteer at the Polyclinic, they always welcome more help there.
 
There are many things to get involved in here. There are art classes every Thursday and I love going there with my daughter. There are many snowbirds or retirees who come to that class.  A local artist comes along, takes a picture and we all learn how to paint it. It’s a great social gathering.
 
There are lots of potlucks and fundraisers here in Ambergris Caye, too. You can be a part of the community as much as you want or you can stay out of it and just enjoy the beauty of the island. You can go cycling on the beach. If you perhaps got yourself a little sailboat or a jet ski as a Qualified Retired Person, you can surely enjoy that here. You can do pretty much anything you want to do. The island is what you make it. If you do not go out to make an effort and be social and meet people, no one will come knocking on your door and introduce themselves and welcome you to the island, but if you walk into a social gathering, which happens a lot here, usually everybody is welcome and people will introduce themselves. You will have a whole host of people who are willing to introduce themselves to you. There is lots going here on Ambergris Caye that for the relaxed, laid- back life of a retiree, the island suits so well.
 
Ambergris Caye does not, however, cater very well for disabilities, so it is not for retirees who have some medical issues.  If you just need regular medication for things like high blood pressure or things like that, you can certainly get care here.
 
If you retire here on Ambergris Caye, you are still close to your families, especially if you are from the US, because there are a lot of direct flights from the US that go straight into Belize City. Whether you choose to live here on the island or on the mainland, it is very accessible.
 
Belize is an English-speaking country, so perhaps if you got into an age where you do not really want to learn new tricks, you don’t have to go out and speak another language to get along in life. I know people who come here fluent in Spanish and try to speak to people who are also fluent in Spanish, but they would always answer back in English. It is very easy to understand the terminologies of the locals and to understand how the island works. The way of life here is a bit different, but it is just a bit simpler, which I think very much suits the retiree.

You will find lots of beautiful plants and trees in the Algarve. One example is the carob, which is the same fruit that exists in the Caribbean.  (The name of the region “Caribbean” comes from the word “carob”.) The carob bean in the Caribbean is longer and flatter, so the carob bean in Portugal is a shorter version of the Caribbean version of the carob. It’s kind of a scimitar-shaped bean around 15 centimeters long. Most of it is green and when it...

You will find lots of beautiful plants and trees in the Algarve. One example is the carob, which is the same fruit that exists in the Caribbean.  (The name of the region “Caribbean” comes from the word “carob”.) The carob bean in the Caribbean is longer and flatter, so the carob bean in Portugal is a shorter version of the Caribbean version of the carob. It’s kind of a scimitar-shaped bean around 15 centimeters long. Most of it is green and when it ripens it becomes brownish or dark reddish. It’s a very interesting product because it can be used in a number of things. It has an enzyme that is used in the pharmaceutical industry and as an additive for the drinks industry. It is also used as a substitute for chocolate in producing a sort of cocoa-tasting product used in the making cakes. Portugal is the third largest European and North African producer and exporter of the carob plant. There is quite a lot of tradition in Portugal linking back to the land.

 

The best time of the year to come and see flowering plants in Algarve is just after the rains, around autumn and again in the spring. We have a flowering area in the western Algarve called the Costa Vicentina, which is a natural reserve of many square kilometers with very little construction. Costa Vicentina has millions of very pretty wild flowers. You will see myriad colors. It is a wonderful place to go to for walkers, cyclists, ramblers, or even if you are just driving through.

 

In the mountains, in traditional areas like Alte, Salir, and Monchique, these are places that because of their height, elevation, and humidity tend to get a lot of flowering plants. Algarve is generally quite consistent with the rest of Portugal but it has a very dry climate. We don’t have much rain or cloudy days. The type of shrubs that exist here are small-leaved plants because these plants tend to do well in less humidity because the evaporation from the leave surface is lower, so they tend to survive better in dry climates. Many of these shrubs are very pretty. Portugal also has the olive tree, which blooms and is fantastic. We also have the almond tree, which is very famous. Probably Japan is the most famous for its almond and orange blossoms but Portugal has beautiful pink, lilac, and white almonds. We also have citrus trees like the orange trees, and a range of other flowering plants, which are very pretty.

 

Among the most famous local plants in the Algarve are the carob plant, the orange, almond, olive, and the fig tree. These are the traditional fruits of the Algarve and they all flower in a different way, which is very pretty. I have all these trees in my own garden.

 

(Carob plant, pictured.)